Failure to Protect Residents From Verbal Abuse by RN
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to protect two residents from verbal abuse by a registered nurse, contrary to its abuse prevention policy that guarantees residents the right to be free from abuse by anyone, including staff. One resident, who was cognitively intact with a BIMS score of 15 and had diagnoses including acute and chronic respiratory failure and heart disease, reported that during the night she requested her ordered narcotic pain medication and the RN responded by referring to her as "addicted." The same resident also reported that on the previous evening she witnessed the RN administering eye drops to another resident and telling that resident to "stop your damn crying" when the resident cried during the procedure. The second resident involved, whose diagnoses included hypertensive heart disease and generalized anxiety disorder and who had a BIMS score of 6 indicating severe cognitive impairment, was described as considering the facility her home and could not be interviewed due to poor cognition. The facility’s own incident reporting and investigation documentation reflected that an investigation into potential verbal abuse of both residents was initiated after the cognitively intact resident reported these events. During a subsequent interview with surveyors, the cognitively intact resident reiterated that she felt verbally abused when called "addicted" and believed the other resident was verbally abused when told to stop her "damn" crying. The Administrator later stated he did not feel either resident was abused and characterized the situation as a "he said/she said" matter, despite the facility’s policy requiring protection from abuse.
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